“Our Queen,” they said in unison, looking up to the female beside me.“Let us take you to our King.”
54
Ivy
The shadows wrapped me in their familiar embrace before transporting our group. When they disappeared, where I expected to see more pebbles and water, there was forest.
No, not quite forest. But crawling vines and the ruins of the old palace.
The brief panic over not landing on the beach with my mates quickly subsided as the Elysian demon collapsed beside me. With a newborn, the baby, and leashes in hand, I couldn’t stop her from hitting the ground. Not even Hawk could have caught her.
He cursed, but I tried my best to kneel beside her. “Are you okay?” I asked, leaning over her.
Dark lashes fluttered as she let out a groan, but her eyes didn’t open. Shit. I looked up at Hawk, who clenched his jaw.“Is there anything you can do?”
He shook his head. “Healing a physical wound is one thing, but she’s drained. One trip shouldn’t have done it.”
“Not one,” she groaned. “Five.”
“Five?” I wished I could at least get her head off the ground.
After a moment, the demon opened her eyes. They were a deep red colour, untouched by glamour, and they met minealmost immediately. “We’ve been taking escapees to the Underworld. Many shifters. Some soldiers.”
I sat back on my heels, breath rushing out of me. “Oh.”
She rose to her elbows with a grunt before sitting up. “I took maybe fifteen on my own,” she said, looking at me. “But that may have just been my last for a few hours.”
“The others,” I murmured, turning to Hawk, who wasn’t looking at us. He was focused on a part of the ruins that looked like stairs leading underground. It reminded me of the dungeon the shadows had taken us to in the Old World and what remained of the vampire fortress around it.
I looked back at the demon, who also followed Hawk’s gaze. If she couldn’t jump for another couple of hours, and that was the same for the other Elysian demons, then those we’d left behind were trapped. Magnus was one who had chosen to remain on the beach, with Leith, Ya’Dahir, and Otto. I wasn’t sure who else was staying behind, because Xerxes—with coaxing from Amais—pushed me to take the first trip.
I could curse myself for leaving them behind without knowing for sure they could make it. The barrier around the island kept Damon himself from jumping out, so I wasn’t sure why I was so irritated anyway when we knew the other demons wouldn’t be able to return.
“I am sorry, my Queen,” the demon murmured. “I do wish I could go back.”
I shook my head, struggling to my feet. Thank the Goddess both babies were sleeping, and my two little leashed ones were too exhausted to pull away. All the excitement of getting free wore them out.
“You saved a lot of lives today,” I said, looking down at her. “And I’ll forever appreciate that.”
She met my stare and nodded once before climbing to her feet. “Let me take one, please.”
I couldn’t exactly move my arms, and I had both babies settled comfortably enough against my chest, so I just wiggled my fingers. “Take theleashes.”
“He is not very helpful,” she muttered, glancing at Hawk, who was still staring at the ruins.
I pressed my lips together but didn’t respond. Carefully, I made my way to him, one eye on the dark hole in the ground, the other on the tension in his shoulders, the slight cock to his head.
“What?” I asked quietly, moving to stand in front of him. “What is it?”
He tore his eyes off the area and looked down at me. I wasn’t entirely sure which Hawk I was looking at right now. The way he looked at me made me wonder if maybe he was recognising how he finally felt about me, had somehow pulled those emotions free at some point, and it was now influencing the person who didn’t know who I was.
After a moment, he shook his head. “There’s someone down there.”
A shiver rolled down my spine. “Who?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, looking away from me. “I can tell they’re down there, but I don’t hear anything.”
Before I could utter a response, a flash of darkness appeared in the corner of my eye. Where there had been nothing before, there were suddenly two very familiar males, a couple of kids, and another exhausted Elysian demon who fell as soon as he landed.
